Trailerable Houseboats

C

CaptMac

New member
I am considering the purchase of a houseboat for cruising the intracoastal waterway for up to a week or two at the time. I still enjoy my 22' C-Dory for its superiority of near-offshore runs, diving and fishing, but some of the trailerable houseboats appear to be better suited than even the larger C-Dorys for extended back water cruises. Some of the advantages appear to be larger interior living space including full kitchen, rooftop ac, larger water and holding tanks, more sleeping and seating areas and even a flybridge option.

In particular, the boats I have been looking at are Nomad houseboats. They are 25' long, trailerable and roomy. The standard package includes a Honda 90 four-stroke on a bracket. Options include choices of the Hondas 135 or 150hp motors.

As the owner of my 3rd C-Dory, I realize that there are advantages of a C-Dory over a houseboat for general daytime boating. However, at only $56K for the Nomad standard houseboat package, one can buy two Nomads for the price of a C-Dory Tomcat or Tug and be a lot more comfortable for overnight cruises.

Does anyone have any experiences with living on or extended inland cruises on any houseboat, especially a Nomad houseboat? If so, what did you like or dislike? Thank you in advance for your input.

The web site for Nomad houseboats is http://www.nomadhouseboats.com.
 
About a year ago I considered a Nomad but opted for the C-D. The Nomad can't take a wave so it is best used on rivers and some lakes. Any more than 2' chop and you start to have problems.
:crook

Phil
 
We live on Shuswap Lake in BC which is supposed to be the house boat capital of Canada. Well we have had seen some things that happens to house boats when the chop is 2' - 6'. The first order of business is to get to shore and anchor it ASAP because if you don't and a wave catches you side ways you could flip or it just plainly comes inside when you torpedo which is not nice. I have played submarine with my jet boat on a river just a bit scarry when you loose power and come over a mini water fall because you missed the channel you came up on. I have seen them flipped over (upside down), one pontoon up on shore with the leg buried into the beach or still floating but the cabin is totally smashed. I have driven them and they get about 6 knots at best. A friend said that his 52' will burn 500 - 600 liters (132 - 158 US Gal.)in about 130 - 150 +/- miles of travel depending on lake conditions. So you be the judge. I wouldn't own one and especially take one out onto the salt or more than a mile from shore (inland) where I could anchor. Remember that to anchor these puppies you have to power up onto the beach and then drive 4 - 4' stakes to into the beach and then run 4 lines from the stern to the stakes on the shore. These are the rules for all house boats on the lake 300+. I have seen when guys tried to cheat with just 2 lines and well lets say they had a healthy repair bill. I heard where one guy ended up buying the boat because he didn't take out the added insurance and the boat was written off in a storm.
 
The Nimble Nomad was the boat that led me to C-Dorys. A friend of ours had a Nomad; neat boat, almost art-deco, tug-looking. Unfortunately, it is limited by hull speed and pounds in chop. When we considered a powerboat, I asked about his Nomad; he suggested I look at a C-Dory... and my thanks that he did! :wink The Nomad has a great front cockpit - good for anchor handling and sight seeing. If all you were looking for was 7 knots on protected water, it ought to be a consideration. I see that someone is renting these on the New York canal system.

I've been on an Adventurecraft. It also is a "protected water" boat - even used to say so on their website. With the windage and height, it would concern me in beam wind/sea conditions... and even on the ICW, there can be some snitty open areas. The flybridge is nice.

I've also seen a couple of these around: http://www.catamarancruiser.com/id3.html but have no hands-on experience. The smaller version was in our lighted boat parade last winter, with 30 mph winds and seemed to be doing fine.

HTH,
Jim B.
 
There's a lot of these Lil Hobo and Vagabonds down here on Lake Okeechobee. People stay on them during the shellcracker and bluegill spawns. They seem to be the boat of choice for extended fish-fry gatherings.
 
At one point we also explored the trailerable houseboats--There was one called a "camper craft" in the past also which even had a fold down staircase aft. Of the several mentioned--the Adventure craft seemed the better built. The Nimble Nomad is a Ted Brewer design; Brewer is one of the best of the offshore naval archeticts--but I don't see any major advantage of the Nimble Nomad over the C Dory types (we are going on a cruise along a Nimble next week, so maybe i'll change my mind?).

My concern with several of these boats is what happens in that rare occasion when it really gets nasty very quickly--are they built to "take it"--even in protected water. Yesterday we came home on the ICW and crossing some of the major bays, there were conditions in 25 knots of wind, which I would not want to be in with any of the "houseboats"--the Nimble is more like the C Dory.

Good luck hunting!
 
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